kite
kite
/kaɪt/
1 a toy made of a light frame covered with paper, cloth, etc., that you fly in the air at the end of one or more long strings
to fly a kite
John wants to fly his new stunt kite.
the joys of kite flying
see also box kite
Collocations
verb + kite
kite + noun
2 a bird of prey (= a bird that kills other creatures for food) of the hawk family
Idioms
Word Origin
Old English cȳta (as a noun in sense (2)); probably of imitative origin and related to German Kauz ‘screech owl’. The toy was so named because it hovers in the air like the bird.
e.g.
If I hadn't killed an officer who pissed me off... they would've given me the order of the golden kite, and I'd be living comfortably off my pension. 気に入らない上官を半殺しにしなきゃ 金鵄勲章もらって今頃はぬくぬく年金暮らしだ (/yupeco/『ゴールデンカムイ』1話)